


fundementals of heroic favoritism

by qrovers



Series: advanced identity reveals (the spider-man au) [2]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Confessions, Fluff, Gen, idk how to tag this, spidey!troy again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25091311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qrovers/pseuds/qrovers
Summary: Spider-Man accompanies Annie home in a crime-ridden neighborhood.In where Troy Barnes is Spider-Man.
Relationships: Troy Barnes & Annie Edison
Series: advanced identity reveals (the spider-man au) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817263
Comments: 15
Kudos: 81





	fundementals of heroic favoritism

**Author's Note:**

> did not mean for this to b a series but. here we go!  
> wrote this in one sitting n i love these two i wish they had more eps together :—(

“Annie, you're late,” Abed says as she enters the study room, Troy nodding in agreement next to him. 

She’s really not. She's early by the group’s standard, always has been, arriving exactly 30 minutes before everyone else does. But the order they entered was always the same. Annie would come first then Troy and Abed then they’d wait for everyone else. When Troy and Abed came in an empty study room, Annie coming in 10 minutes later than she usually does, Troy thought she died. It was a scary 10 minutes. 

“That's very out of character of you,” Abed says, “Which should mean shenanigans happened this morning. Did your alarm clock run out of battery? Did your car break down? Did you get robbed?”

She points a finger at him as she fishes her books from her backpack. “The last one. But it happened last night, not this morning.”

Troy eyes her in concern while she organizes her supplies on the table as Britta and Jeff walk in bickering. After a moment, Troy says, “Wait, you got robbed last night?”

Britta holds a hand up to shut Jeff up. He does. “Hold on,  _ what? _ ”

“It's not that serious,” Annie justifies, “He just got my phone and I lost track of time, that's all. It happens all the time, anyways.”

“Yeah,” Jeff says, pulling his chair out, “that’s not normal,”

“You gotta get the  _ hell _ out of that neighborhood, Annie,” Britta agrees. 

#

Around 9 pm after doing Spider-Man duties, Troy's feeding a stray cat he named  _ Catara _ his leftover bagel on the roof of an apartment building, legs tap-tap-tapping on the wall in boredom, when he sees Annie walk by.

She's obviously tensed, clutching her bag close to her chest with wild, calculating eyes. Her shoulders are squared up and she’s walking briskly enough that Troy can almost see the smoke in her trail. 

He pats Catara on the head before he pulls his Spider-Man mask (straight out of the merchandise shelves of the comic book shop he and Abed frequents) down from his nose to the rest of his neck. 

He’s asked the Sewing Club to make a few adjustments to his suit so it'll be easier to move in. They didn't have any questions, probably assuming it's for a movie spoof he and Abed are planning, and had given it back to him a few days ago. It was tailored so well, Troy wondered why they’d stay at Greendale with that kind of talent. 

But, that's not what he should be focusing right now, especially because Annie's almost out of sight. 

He checks the web shooters around his wrists and, when he sees they still have enough, jumps from the rooftop (doing a flip for the sole purpose that he can), and swings until he manages to catch up with her, dropping down as gently and unalarming as he can while still making sure his presence is announced. 

She turns to him, surprised. After a pause, she greets, “Hello, Spider-Man,” like she sees him all the time. “Are you following me?”

“No,” Troy says, then, after realizing it's  _ Annie _ and not a complete stranger, coughs and deepens his voice. “No, I am not,”

She squints at him. “Are you doing...Batman?”

“No,” A pause. “It’s dangerous to walk here alone, you know? This is a pretty terrible neighborhood.”

He doesn't even have to take Jeff and Britta’s word for it. In the hour he's circled the block, the sound of sirens was so constant he forgot what silence sounded like. 

“Yes, I know. I live around this area.”

Right. He should've thought of that. “Would it be okay if I walk you home? Purely friendly neighborhood duties, I promise.”

She stares at him for what feels like forever. 

He starts walking beside her when she doesn't tell him off, which he counts as a win for the friendly part, and they find themselves stuck in an awkward silence for half a block. 

She breaks it with, “Okay, I’m only doing this because I need to ask a few questions for a story I’m doing for my school’s paper. And, also, you can't go in my building.”

Troy nods. Seems fair. He’s never been interviewed for a paper before. Though, he's not sure if the Gazette counted as news. 

Annie lights up and starts rummaging her bag, pulling out a notepad and tape recorder. “Great! Let me start with: What’s your real name?”

“Nice try,”

Her laugh sounds light. 

#

It takes 5 questions for Troy’s throat to dry up from imitating Batman, making a mental note to drink a lot of water after this. 

The first one was, “How did you get your powers?”

And he responded by finally telling someone about the very real (in homage-levels Abed would appreciate) story of getting bit by a radioactive spider during a trip to the Chem lab. He omits getting it from Greendale’s lab (because only Greendale would have a  _ spider farm  _ right next to the  _ toxic chemicals _ ) but does mention he got it around last year. He got so sick after the bite, he was scared he was gonna die. It was like getting the flu tenfold, having his dad almost call the hospital at how terrible it got, and then the day after that, Troy could bench press a bus full of people. 

It was a pretty wild story. 

Despite recording the conversation, he sees Annie scribble down notes as she walks. 

“What inspired you to heroism?”

He shrugs. “I don't know. I just like helping people.”

“Well,” Annie puts the tip of her pen to her chin, “Don’t you have an awfully tragic origin story? Dead parents? Dead uncle?”

He snorts, stopping himself from saying  _ You sound so much like Abed _ . “Well, my parents are both very alive. And all my uncle is is creepy,”

“So, you just do it for...fun?”

“Yeah,” Troy nods, “I don't need a complicated reason to do something,”

Annie stares at him for a moment before her steps start to slow. She stops in front of a dingy looking building, the paint outside already peeling off. There's a man pissing on the corner. She points at it with her pen. “This is my place,”

“Oh,” he deflates but shakes his head and offers a hand, “Thank you so much for the interview, um, Annie Edison, was it?”

She tries to hide a snort. “Uh, yeah.” She pauses. “Actually, can you walk me up to my apartment?”

“Thought I wasn't allowed?”

“Eh, I change my mind,”

#

The inside of the apartment building did nothing to calm Troy’s (already hyper sensitive) nerves. It was like walking into a future crime scene. 

Screw that, it's actually walking into an  _ active  _ crime scene. 

He watches Annie duck under police tape to get to the creaking elevator, him at her tail. He tries not to think about how often this happens or else he’ll faint in worry. 

“Such a...quaint place.” He says, entering the elevator as she presses the close button. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad.”

When the elevator dings open, Troy tries not to make it obvious that he already knows what apartment she's in. He gets a feeling of distant nostalgia, a faint memory of his birthday plays in his mind as Annie gets the keys for her 4 locks. 

“You wanna come in?” She asks.

“Nah, I’m good,”

“You sure, Troy?”

Wait. 

_ Troy? _

He hopes she can see his embarrassment through his mask as he puts his head in his hands and gives a little giggle. She laughs softly, eyes sparkling. 

“How long have you known?” He asks, a little relieved he doesn't have to use his Batman (morphing into Cookie Monster) voice. 

She shrugs, “Just now.” She has a smirk on her face when she leans against the door instead of opening it. 

“Ah,” he sighs, “oops.”

They stay silent for a few moments, Troy not fully knowing what to say.  _ Of course _ Annie would find out. She’s smart and she knows the study group like she knows her schedule. She's the most observant next to Abed, and Troy isn't the best at hiding secrets, no matter how hard he tries. Spider-Man doesn't exactly hand out free protective walks through creepy neighborhoods (even though Troy really wants to, but then he’ll never get to sleep at the demand.)

Annie says, “Who else knows?”

“Just you and Abed,” He tenses up, “Please don't publish my identity on the Gazette.”

She’s waving her hand before he even finishes the sentence. “Wasn't even thinking about it. Plus, who thinks the Greendale paper has any credibility anyway?”

Good point. 

She sighs. “My place is so bad I got Spidey as my personal bodyguard.”

“Annie, you got robbed last night.” He fidgets a bit. “I got worried.”

“I know,” she says, voice exasperated, “but I can take care of myself, you know. Plus, where else will I go? This is the cheapest place I can afford,”

“Y’know, me and Abed’s apartment is still up for a third roommate.”

She stands a little straighter. “That wasn't a joke?”

He shakes his head. “No, why would it be?”

She furrows her eyebrows as she turns and finally jimmies her door open. Before going in, she says, “Yeah,” smiling a bit wider, “sure. I’ll move in.”

He lifts his mask up to his nose so she sees him grin. 

“Cool,” he says. “Goodnight, Annie.”

“Goodnight, Spider-Man.”

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twit :D @/trobedcore


End file.
